Original watercolor artwork for ABA 75 Convention by Gorey, Edward - 1975

1975. Gorey, Edward. Watercolor on paper. Image area measures approximately 8 by 11 1/2 inches. Matted and framed. This illustration was used on the cover of the May 19th, 1975 edition of Publisher's Weekly, which featured an article on the 1975 American Booksellers Association Convention. The scene shows a typical Gorey character with enormous golden wings proclaiming "ABA 75" upon them in red. The mustachioed man, dressed in slacks, a tweed sportcoat, yellow sweater and green bow-tie, hovers bat-like over a small crowd of characters wielding books, each of whom has a speech-bubble pitch above them. The faded burlesque dancer in a diaphanous flapper-style dress, feather headdress, and festooned with beads holds up her "Follies of the Follies" and explains that "I still have all my costumes to wear to book-and-author luncheons." Next to her, a small boy pitches his "exposé of group activities in an Eastchester kindergarten" entitled "Plasticine & Clothes Pins." A barefoot, bearded beach-bum in a poncho, an apron-wearing aspiring cookbook author, and a man in a plaid 3-piece leisure suit round out this assembly. Some of the details here suggest that Gorey, who was no stranger to book-related events such as this, may have attended this convention. Writing in the June 16th, 1975 issue of the New Yorker, Lillian Ross observed that "All over the convention, the word used for people whose names appeared on the covers of books was 'author' (never 'writer')." Further on, she noted the presence of "two dozen publishers who were beating the drum for cookbooks," and she likened the experience of walking the aisles to "walking an old Coney Island path between sideshow hawkers." Gorey adhered a small paste-over correction to the leg of one of the characters, revealing insight into the artist's process. A fine, colorful example of Gorey's commercial work that is especially appealing for its book-oriented content.